July 18, 2013

Not Another Trayvon

If the current pro-Trayvon protesters, Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson, Barack Obama, et al, really wanted unity, peace, and justice, they would not have picked a case of clear self defense. Their poster child would not be a young thug whose pleasure in life was beating people.

It's not like they were limited. Countless other black youths have been shot down since that rainy night George Zimmerman was forced to defend himself. Most by other blacks. Despite what the media would have you believe, white on black killings are rare. More rare, for example, than black on white killings.

Most murderers actually kill within their own racial group. More than 92% of murdered blacks were killed by other blacks, while 83% of white victims were killed by whites. But those statistics don't stop some from exploiting that less than 8%, while ignoring the rest.

Solely for political purposes, race-baiters like Jackson and Sharpton use these statistically rare instances. But I have to wonder, even within that small statistical window, why "social justice" groups still tend to cling to questionable cases - or even a case of clear self dense as we saw in the George Zimmerman incident - when there are other, more concerning acts of violence that would not only support their agenda, but also be more inclusionary.

I would certainly support their cause if they were marching for someone like Darius Simmons:

While some are comparing the Simmons murder to the killing of Trayvon Martin, there is nothing similar other than the race of the victim and the perpetrator.

John Henry Spooner used a gun to confront Daruis Simmons about a recent home break-in. Without any justification, he shoots Simmons dead. Turns out, in addition to the shooting being completely unjustified, Simmons had nothing to do with the break-in. Spooner, for whatever reason - mis-identification, racial bias, mental illness, decided Simmons was involved and that led to the confrontation:

Spooner's surveillance video provides a clear view of what happened. Spooner emerges from his house and confronts the teen, who is retrieving his family's garbage cart from the street. Spooner points a gun at Darius, who quickly moves back a few steps.

Spooner then exchanges words with Darius' mother, who's standing on her porch out of view of the camera, and Spooner briefly points the gun in her direction. Moments later, Spooner points the gun back at the boy standing a couple of feet in front of him. He fires, hitting Darius in the chest.

The teen stumbles and runs away, and Spooner fires a second shot that misses. He appears to attempt a third shot but the gun jams.

Darius' mother, Patricia Larry, testified that she chased her son to where he collapsed in the street, cradling him in her arms as he died.

Just as I am at a loss as to how anyone could find George Zimmerman of guilty of anything more than self defense, I don't see how anyone could find John Spooner guilty of anything less than first degree murder. And to me, this would be a much more uniting case to spotlight unjust killings of young black males.

But the fact social engineers like Crump, Jackson and Sharpton focus on a rare, justified killing only suggests their real agenda is not unity but rather one of divisiveness. If they truly cared about the lives of the young men in their communities, the 92% would mean as much as that 8%. The color of the perpetrator's skin would not matter.

Below the fold, the video surveillance. It shows the shooting, so be warned.